Farmers markets are an incredible asset to the community and provide us non-farmers with amazing, healthy, and sustainable food! Here are the biggest reasons to shop at the farmers market:
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Eat amazing food
You will literally never find a pear more luscious than one picked by caring hands who know that it will be ripe the exact week you buy it. (Did you know? Pears ripen off the tree!).
You will never find more varieties of apples at the farmers market. I’ve counted over 2 dozen – move over granny smith and red delicious!
Have you ever bought kale that has stayed vibrant and fresh for over two weeks because it was picked the day before you bought it?
The tomatoes are juicy and sweeter than candy when they are grown for their flavor or color more than their ability to be transported long distances.
There is a reason why so many chefs are turning to the huge variety that farmers markets have to offer – the food tastes better.
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Improve the local economy
Have you ever thought about where your money goes when you spend it? We typically spend our money on something and then once we get the thing we bought, that money is gone and we forget about it. When we get gas and send our money to Chevron it exits our local economy.
But if you buy carrots from your local farmer, she can pay for the local electrician to come out and wire new cold storage or can send her daughter to summer camp.
The money that you worked hard to earn can be put to work doing more in our community. Its sphere of influence stays local. It means that the people growing your food can stay employed!
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Preserve farmland
Who wants to see another piece of open land turn into a parking lot or housing development? Not me! I love that farmers markets make farms viable businesses so that open land can stay as an orchard or vegetable field. Preserving farmland is important in keeping our food system local. It keeps fertile soils in food production instead of being capped by asphalt. It also provides an opportunity for unique, regenerative, and productive ecosystems.
Without local and accessible farmland, it becomes so much harder for cities to get local food.
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Eat Healthy food
Food at farmers markets comes from farms, not factories.
You won’t find bags of chips or soda or really any kind of processed food.
You’ll find fruits, vegetables, farm cheeses, grass-fed meat, nuts, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, and artisanal foods. Having a nutrient-rich and diverse diet is important for our health. The produce-heavy options at farmers markets mean you won’t be tempted to grab a candy bar in the check out line (although that might mean you grab a bunch of basil or a pint of strawberries).
Many small farmers take great care in how their food is grown and prioritize health and quality. Food grown from healthy soil is nutrient rich and when it only travels a few hours to get to you, it hasn’t lost any nutrition or quality on the way. Foods that are organically grown (or grown without pesticides and herbicides) are also much healthier because they reduce your exposure to chemical residues. Check out the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list of produce with the highest pesticide residue. Ask your farmer if they are organic or what they do to manage pests and weeds (even if they are not organic).
Shopping at the farmers market means you’ll get a diverse selection of high quality healthy food and there will be zero processed-food temptations!
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Meet the farmers
Grocery shopping at a conventional store is such a solitary activity. Unless you need help finding something there’s not a lot of interaction. With the rise of food delivery services (like Amazon Fresh, Instacart, and more) we can choose to have even less interaction with the people that provide our food. Delivery may provide a (sometimes necessary) convenience. However, it also comes with a fair bit of waste. Plus, there’s no one to give you great cooking tips for the veggies you just bought!
At the farmers market each transaction requires interaction. I love being able to ask vendors what varieties of peaches they like best or their favorite way to prepare sunchokes. It is even better when you become a regular and know the farmers and vendors by name and can ask them how their holiday was or when the first cherries are coming in.
You don’t have to buy your food from a stranger! And how enjoyable is it to be a part of a community doing good and eating well at the same time?
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Lower your environmental impact
Food miles. Seasonal eating. Lower greenhouse gas emissions. We’ve all heard it before. When your food is brought into the market from 60 miles away, it creates less of an impact than your mango that is flown or shipped into the grocery store from another continent. Eating only what is grown close to you means you are eating with the seasons and don’t have to ship food long distances. It seems like a downside until you eat the first strawberry in June and realize that yes, it was all worth it (unless you hoard strawberries away in your freezer, like I do).
Many small local farmers also do farming a bit different than conventional farmers. Farmers recycle waste on the farm (using excess whey for food, animal manure or vegetable waste for compost and awesome soil, etc.). They also reduce the use of machinery and many small farms pick produce by hand. Many farmers are conscious to provide habitat for pollinators, to reduce their waste, and to be good stewards of their land. They even actively try to increase the carbon content in their soil sequestering it from the atmosphere. Did you know that? Farming practices can help pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, lock it into the soil, and effectively reduce climate change. More carbon even makes soil healthier!
Ask your local farmers about what they are doing to be more environmentally sustainable on their farm!
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Invest in the future
Every dollar we spend is an investment. When we spend money on anything, we are essentially saying we want more of THAT in the world. More gasoline? Sure. More cellphones? Ok. More heirloom tomatoes grown by a kind fellow who chose that variety just for its candy-like sweetness? Definitely!
Spending your hard earned money on healthy and delicious food that was grown nearby is investing in a future where that can continue. A future where it is viable to grow those delicious fruits and vegetables and raise chickens that make gorgeous dark orange yolks. Where we spend our money means more of that thing.
Worried about the cost of farmers markets? Remember that you are paying the true cost of food when you buy from a farmer AND you can find ways to save money at the market here.
What would the world look like if we spend money on local healthy produce and on products made by people in our communities instead of new cellphones and bigger cars? How could we shape the world we want by spending our money on the things that make the world better? All of our choices matter. And each dollar we spend can help create the world we want or pull us farther away. What will your choice be?
Why do you shop at the farmers market? If you don’t, what is holding you back?